Dubai could raise the size of Salik's IPO following stronger-than-expected demand, Bloomberg reported.

The government's initial plan was to offer a 20% stake in its road toll operator. It is now considering whether to sell a 25% stake or as many as 1.875 billion shares, the report said, citing people who declined to be identified.

Salik, which was launched in 2007 and has 3.6 million vehicles registered on the toll system opened the IPO subscription on September 13 to sell 1.5 billion shares.

Its IPO price has been set at AED2 per share and could potentially raise AED3 billion in the float.

"Advisers on the $817 million deal recommended increasing the size after investors on Tuesday snapped up all of the shares on offer within hours of the IPO opening, the people said. A decision from the government may come as soon as Wednesday, one of the people said," Bloomberg reported.  

A representative for Salik said the company is evaluating its options and declined to comment further until a decision has been made, Bloomberg reported. 

The toll operator had previously said it might increase the size of the issue in case of high demand. The stock is expected to list on the Dubai Financial Market on September 29.

UAE Strategic Investment Fund, Dubai Holding, Shamal Holding and The Abu Dhabi Pension Fund will be the cornerstone investors and have a combined commitment of AED606 million.

"The selling shareholder reserves the right to amend the size of the offering and the tranche sizes at any time prior to the end of the subscription period at its sole discretion, subject to applicable laws and SCA approval," Salik had said in an advertisement carried in a local newspaper. 

(Writing by Seban Scaria seban.scaria@lseg.com; editing by Anoop Menon)